Over the past four weeks, Ellie Lewis, Luke Barnes and Maddy Fisher have been working hard towards competing in the Youth Speaks public speaking competition, which was held on the 21st November at Bloxham School.
Their speeches maturely discussed the broad array of subjects that stemmed from our main theme: the sexualisation of people in the 21st Century. Ellie, the chairperson, carefully announced the subject and her teammates, providing a clear and well-educated overview of what the presentation would include. After a kind introduction from Ellie, Luke took the floor and spoke fluently and eloquently, completely off-script, about the issues of sexualisation in the modern day. His speech covered the contribution of the media, retail, schools, language and parents to this ever-present problem, and also explained the possible resolutions. Maddy proposed the Vote of Thanks – a strong and precise summary which included ways in which the audience could make a difference, and allowed for an applause for Ellie and Luke.
After long deliberation from the judges, it was announced that the team had won the competition and were through to the regional round in Witney; beating two Tudor Hall groups, a group from Bloxham School and a group from The Cooper School. The team were thrilled with this result and will now go on to the next stage in February. Credit is certainly due to Mr Ward for his continuously support and advice and encouraging passion and excitement about the wonderful opportunity.
Our junior team of Cadence James (Chairperson), William Gofton (Main Speaker) and Millie Chettleborough (Vote of Thanks) competed in the event. These Year 8s were professional and powerful in their speeches about Brexit and the environment, and despite not winning, they did an excellent job at opening the intermediate competition and deserve praise for their courage and intelligence when speaking, especially since Millie was a last minute entrant.
